Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.
Exasperation 7.8
Tails wasn't sure how Blaze and Spark were here, or why they were here, or even if he was glad for that fact. Blaze looked...worse for wear, than anytime previously he'd seen her, even during their trek across the Great Desert. She was covered in dirt and soil, and he could smell the blood wafting off of her legs and sides. Her normal brilliant gold eyes were a dim dull brown, something he'd only seen when she was certainly, definitively, out of fire. What had they encountered in Vianex to make her use it all?
Spark was better off, at least. While she, too, was a dirty brown of dirt and soil, the only blood he smelled on her was Blaze's, all along her legs and her back. Her clothes were at least still keeping her decent, although he could smell a scent of sadness and depression waft on her after she saw Katia's current exposure levels.
He shook his head out as he almost stepped on a red sphere. He could think on the politics of their group later, when they actually had time for it. Blaze was limping along, going as fast as the Special Zone forced her to. He doubted she even realized she was limping. He was an old hand at this style of Special Zone, and he was having no trouble despite the rather tricky layout. The others, he noticed, weren't having nearly as easy of a time of it.
He grabbed the last blue sphere that he could see, and he gave a solid sigh as the world started to spin, and his momentum stilled. Katia, Spark, and Blaze stood near him as he half-expected the Chaos Emerald to congregate above them. "Was that it?" Blaze asked quietly. Her voice was hoarse, and there was a hint of a tremor to it that Tails only barely caught, and that was only because he knew her well.
"Should be," Tails answered. The white space seemed to last forever in every direction. Were they...was that it? Were they heading home, now? Of all times? It reminded him a lot of the Time Eater, if he had to be honest, but there was no solidity to the white beneath them. "I've never seen one last this long though," he continued. Why? Because there were four of them, now? That shouldn't matter; one time, on a dare, Sonic, he and Knuckles had all jumped in the same one, and they hadn't had trouble.
"It's because we grabbed the sacred rings. Exceptions! You should know better!" Katia shouted, holding her head in her hands.
"They weren't the only ones," Spark muttered. "I had to help Blaze," she said simply. Tails stared at her inquisitively. There was a story there and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Did that have something to do with their current look? Katia turned to her, lightning imminent on her face and in her hands.
Tails rushed by and grabbed her arm, using his tails as leverage as he brought it down. With his other hand, he grabbed Spark's arm, ignoring the charge of electricity as it surged through him. There was a feeling now, a roar, that he felt at the back of his head. He grabbed Katia's lightning, returning it to the ground as he pointed upwards. Spark seemingly understood what he was getting at, and grabbed Blaze's arm as he felt the sudden acceleration upwards. "Hold on tight!" he yelled, the air ripped from his lungs.
He was sent flying out of the giant ring. He hadn't had time to even look at his surroundings before Katia slammed into him next, followed by Spark and Blaze to follow it up. He felt grass beneath him, and he waited patiently as Spark and Katia got off of him before he stood up. They were in a forest-like clearing, but the scent was...different. Were they even in the same world, now? The trees were taller, here, and he took a deep breath. It wasn't untouched, but it was...somewhere far.
"Any idea where we are?" Blaze asked after a moment. "This still looks like the same world, just in a different place. We've seen plenty of variances so far," she continued. She glanced upwards, towards the setting sun. "General time zone is the same."
"So we didn't go as far as we could have," Tails finished her thought. "Same longitude, possibly different latitude. Temperature is about the same though, so I think...I think we're near Ikan'Thoa, honestly," Tails guessed.
"All the rainbow roads lead to Ikan'Thoa. It's the nexus for them all," Katia spoke up. "But I don't recognize this place." She looked around, her hand dragging along the bark of the trees.
"I do," Spark murmured. Tails glanced her way, to see her curled into a small ball, her back against a tree. It had electrical burn marks all over it, as if it had been used as a training post for a long time. "It's where I was trained. By Strike," she finished. His eyebrows raised. Strike? Who was that? He recalled the name from earlier, but he hadn't know who it meant. It meant a lot to Spark, obviously, and to Katia too by the way the vixen tensed up.
"Strike uses this place?" Katia asked quietly. She gave a wild look around, as if the sapient was around.
Tails looked at Blaze, who returned it with a pained shrug. "Strike was her teacher. Teaching her wrong, too. I don't think electricity's supposed to cause internal burns," Blaze said quietly. "But I'm not an electrokineticist."
Tails blinked, before he thought about it. It...made unfortunate sense. "Any sustained electrical current is bad, no matter who you are," Tails answered. "But if you flash it fast enough, it shouldn't hurt as bad. If you lower the potential of your output, the only thing that matters is the resistance on your skin. If you increase that, you have to use more current."
Blaze stared at him, and Tails uncomfortably noticed that both Spark and Katia were doing the same. "I know you used words, but...what?" Katia asked. "We need to get out of here though. If Strike uses this place-"
"Oh look, the Exceptions and their couriers," a haughty voice called out from behind a tree. "On their way back from...where was it you were sent to die at again? Oh yes, the mating plains and the land of decay. I'm surprised you're here, considering those are on the other side of Ikan'Thoa," the same voice, masculine, said as he gave a slow clap. Tails gave a glance, seeing a tall jaguar resting against the tree, slowly clapping his hands. Tails could hear the small shocks as his hands connected. A lightning channeler. He had a small leather cloak on his waist, showing off the impressive scars on his arms and chest.
Spark stood up. "Strike. We...humbly apologize for-" she started to say.
"I don't care," Strike interrupted. He strode on in, small bolts emanating from his hand as he looked over at Katia and Spark. "The minders are...incapable, I see. Spark, you couldn't even kill a flame caller? A worthless flame caller?" he asked, sneering over at Blaze. The cat met his gaze head on, and something about her stare shook him, as he quickly glanced towards Tails. "And you, Katia. Even as you are, I can tell you didn't even try to lay with him. Think you already knew he was too good for you?" the jaguar said.
Tails stared at him, slowly circling him to get between him and Katia and Spark. "Ha! Or maybe you knew you were too good for him. I mean, a mutant? Channeler or not, he's kind of worthless," Strike continued. "I bet he couldn't even throw a punch if his life depended on it."
"Or I know where my strength is, and it's not in physicality," Tails answered. Strike blinked, before he sneered at the tod.
"Physical strength, elementalist strength, strength is the only thing that matters here! And if you don't have it, you're better off buried in the ground. Maybe the slugs that eat your corpse will do something worthwhile."
"It's really not," Tails answered. "There's lots of things other than strength. Intelligence, for one. Wisdom, for another. For example, if a rosuvel were to suddenly drop on you, what would you do?" he asked. He paused for only a second, "Because I know what the others did, and they died. Would you run? Run and die? Or would you fight, for that slim chance of survival?"
"Or if you were in a small hallway with skeletons, and no way out, what would you do?" Blaze asked suddenly. She walked towards him carefully, Tails noticed that she was hiding her limp with an ease that belied how hurt she was. "Would you run and die? Or would you fight and die? These were the choices presented to us. And yet...we are still here."
"Impossible!"
"You doubt our words that much?" Spark asked from her place. "I know a rosuvel just as well as you do. And I guarantee that one was at the swamp, and died. And just now, Vianex, the land of death and decay...the answer is in time."
"Time?" Strike asked. "You're insane. All of you. And let me guess, you, Katia, you figured out the endless secret of the mating plains of Revianah? Another impossibility."
"Actually no, that one was Tails again," Katia smirked. Strike raised his hand and she flinched, as if expecting to be hit. Tails rushed in, feeling the wind behind him. Strike lowered his hand, seeing Tails in between them. The jaguar looked at him, and where he had just been. Apparently rumors of their speed hadn't yet been dispersed through Ikan'Thoa.
Strike gave them all a conniving grin after a moment. "Well then. If he's so powerful as to withstand a rosuvel, and to figure out Revianah, then I guess I get to try to kill him," Strike grinned, strutting forward. "After all, no one cares right now, if an Exception dies. And if he doesn't, well, I guess I just get to kill Katia, and Spark, and the other Exception. One by one. I get to feel them writhe under me-" he stopped after a moment, staring at Tails who was now floating in the air, his tails spinning wildly.
"You talk too much," he said quietly. "Besides, if you did get through me, you couldn't kill Blaze," he answered. That must have pissed Strike off something bad, as he immediately rushed forward with his hand extended, electricity glowing off of it. Tails quickly soared out of the way, twisting and striking down his arm with his tails. It pushed Strike towards the ground, who immediately rolled and lashed out with his foot.
Tails sighed internally as he saw it coming. He hated fighting, especially another sapient. Spars were one thing, as demonstrated from Emerl, but life or death as Strike was so intent on? He could do robots. He could go through as many robots as he needed to. But another sapient was another matter. He wasn't able to dodge out of the way of this one, either.
He felt it, deep in his ribs, as the jaguar's clawed foot slashed at him, forcing him back a few feet in the air. "Tails!" Spark cried from the side. Strike grinned as Tails landed on the ground, one hand gingerly touching his stomach. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Blaze concentrating on something. Was she trying to access her flames again?
"Wow. One hit and she cries your name," Strike smirked. "A few more should do it. Then she'll be crying my na-" he started before a crossbow bolt was shot into his arm. He grit his teeth and turned towards Spark, her crossbow out and empty of bolts. His eyes lit up in fury before Katia appeared under him, her fists roaring towards his groin. He jumped out of the way, a demonic hiss coming from his mouth. "Failures! Observe a duel!"
"I don't remember a duel being called," Katia said, standing up quietly. "I only remember vague threats of a failure," she finished. "You, Spark? Blaze? Miles?"
"Miles?" Strike's eyes widened as he turned to Tails. "Pathetic!" he roared, running towards Tails as fast as he could go, lightning collapsing into his hand.
"I'm really not good at fighting," Tails said casually as he bounced underneath the outstretched arm. Strike tried to get him with another kick, but he jumped above it, hovering over the jaguar as he prepared another attack for his landing. If Tails couldn't fly, that was. "Ask anyone who knows me, I'm not good at it."
"Then just die, failure!"
"See, I'm worse at that," Tails answered conversationally. He recalled the fight with the doppelgangers, and how talking would easily rile them up. "But...the thing is, Ikan'Thoa demands strength. But strength is a lot more than just pure force. Lightning isn't pure force. It's movement, energy," Tails said as he landed on the ground a few feet away. That one good hit was making it hard to breath, but he had to at least act strong. His hand rested on the Charger, one finger against the button that would send energy directly through his body. "And you're not very good at that part, either," Tails said as Strike roared at him, running straight at him.
Tails hit the Charger two, three times. His body flooded with electricity, and he forced it out into a shield, exactly as he'd done against the rosuvel not long ago. Strike's eyes widened, but he was already moving too fast to be able to stop. There was lightning on his fist, again, but Tails grabbed it just as Strike collided with the shield, the amount of electricity coating him making it do nothing. Instead he used it, adding its power to the shield already around him.
Strike roared as he was sent towards the trees.
—Side B—
It didn't surprise Blaze as much as she thought it would about Tails' proclivity towards fighting, or rather not fighting. He had no problem fighting non-sapients, or robots, so it was quite possibly the idea of causing pain that caused him so much inner turmoil. And yet, despite Tails' proud proclamation that he didn't like fighting, Strike was still attempting to hurt him first. Was it because he was an unknown, an Exception? Except Strike hadn't gone after her.
Because he was male? Possibly. Strike did seem like the type, especially as he was so carelessly tossing about ideas of what he'd do once he'd killed them.
Blaze wasn't worried. Tails, as good a fighter as he was, was not her. And she had no inclination to hold back. She was biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment. She was a cat just as he was, and she was not impressed by Strike's performance such far.
Really, the jaguar was...not the best. He was good at following up, but his form was awful, all power and no finesse. Tails though was unfortunately all finesse, hardly any power. Which made sense, to her, as he was used to having dodge things that would kill him instantly.
After Tails struck back with the shield of lightning, Blaze thought it was probably for the best that she joined in at some point. Her flames were still out, but she wasn't worried. She was hurt, and hurt badly, and the rings had healed her up nicely...she'd measured Strike up already.
"Get out of here," she said as she stalked forward, her feet silent against the grass. Strike glowered at her, his eyes piercing into her. She was facing the sunset, but it had set enough it wasn't in her eyes, fortunately.
"Flame caller. Worthless flame caller. I don't care what your kind has to say."
That's why he hadn't attacked her already. Tails was not only an Exception, but a lightning channeler too. "Blaze, you're still hurt-" Tails started to mutter.
"Not hurt enough for this," Blaze said gently. Strike's eyes widened, and the bloody smirk appeared on his maw.
"Fine. I get to kill the other Exception now. I can't wait for this," Strike threatened, claws coming out from his hands, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Blaze could smell the blood wafting off of his back.
Blaze felt her right side wasn't responding well, but she also didn't need it to. Her left arm was out of order, and her right leg wasn't hiding its intolerance of weight being put on it.
Strike ran at her, and she fell into the rhythm. A duck here, a slash there, she ducked and weaved around him. Claws hit where her head had been a moment previous, and she remembered why she fought like this. She was grace, personified. No wasted movement, and if her body didn't like it, that was just too bad. Every step caused pain to lance to her head, but it was slowly fading as the adrenaline took over.
Lightning crackled over her fur where ever Strike's hand would have hit her, had she not jumped and rolled over him, her own claws digging into his back a moment later. Skin dragged from his back, and he fell to the ground. Twenty seconds before the first decisive blow. Not bad, considering she was still injured.
Strike forced himself up a moment later, breathing heavily. Blaze forced herself to remain calm, breathing deeply but steadily. "Had enough? Leave us," she repeated.
"Ikan'Thoa is going to kill you all. There will be nowhere left for you to run. Stupid Exceptions," Strike hissed, before he turned his back and fled, three large bloody marks on his back showing where Blaze had got him.
She waited for a moment, and she noticed that the others were doing the same, their ears twisting around to hear if he would come back. He wasn't quiet as he stomped off.
"Blaze that was...where did you learn to move like that!?" Katia gushed. Spark was busy resetting her crossbow, putting in another bolt into it for the next time she had to fire. Tails was checking his gear to make sure that he had everything, or so she guessed.
She shrugged. "I always have. My parents put me into dancing early, and when I became Guardian I just...kept up with it, just more aggressively."
"Strike won't like that you beat him like that. Our window is dropping, and he is right. We won't be allowed to stay," Spark guessed.
"Tails, could we head south? We head into more of the tropical zones, food scarcity shouldn't be an issue. And winter's almost here," Blaze asked. A cold wind bit at her fur, as if to antagonize her for daring to forget its existence.
"We could, but I think that's the swamp area. We don't want to go there," Tails said. "I think our best bet is still the boat option."
"How fast can you build one?"
"How fast can you get the materials?" Tails asked back, just as quick. Spark and Katia stared at each other, and their heads turned between the speakers like some form of tennis match gone wrong.
"Can you do it for more sapients?"
"Get more materials. I have a design for a sailboat, as we don't have fuel here and I don't trust any chaos engine to run without an emerald. It can hold eight, comfortably. If I had to work full time, give me three days."
"You can have at most two after we get everything."
"Then I'll have to do it in two," Tails agreed. He pulled out the tablet, quickly pulling up the design.
It was a good design, if she had to be honest. Only one major problem that she could foresee, "This requires the wind to run. But this design has an electric engine. Where on earth are you going to get that? Doesn't that require a constant current?"
"It is direct current, yeah. You have three electrokinetics here," Tails said, motioning to him, Katia, and Spark. "And if you don't think I can't get an electric engine to run..."
"No, I believe you. But engines are hard to manufacture, and we don't have any of the tools. Think you can still make it?"
"It'll be harder, but the mechanics to make any engine haven't changed no matter what world we're in. Give me some time, and absolutely."
Blaze turned to Spark and Katia, "How long does it take to get to Ikan'Thoa from here? If Tails and I carry each one of you, we might be able to beat Strike back."
"You're still hurt, Blaze," Spark brought up. "But it's around twenty or thirty minutes. If he's smart, he won't go straight to the Elders, but to the witch first."
"Even if he does, we can pour water on his fire. By making it seem like we came back from Vianex and Revianah at the same time, from the same direction, it'll be less obvious that we came from here. They'll question him."
Katia shook her head, "No they won't. He's Lightning's son. I doubt that they'll even care about the inconsistencies. They'll probably try to kill us right then and there."
"Or they'll use it as an excuse to have the Choosing now, to execute the others who aren't set by the Elder's rules," Spark admitted. "Teller River told us a story about it once, from seasons and seasons ago."
"I don't remember that one. Tell us?"
"How about on the way?" Blaze asked impatiently. Katia and Spark froze, before they nodded. The cat halfway expected both of the vixens to fight over who was brought by Tails, but surprisingly they didn't. Spark let it go easily, grabbing on to Blaze's shoulders, and Katia climbing on Tails' back.
Blaze was thankfully alright with it, as Spark was a bit lighter than Katia, although not by much. Both vixens were fairly light, and mostly muscle. Her right leg was protesting every movement, but she ignored it as she started through the trees.
Katia was giving Tails' instructions, the two-tailed fox's face a bright red as Katia was still mostly uncovered. Blaze wanted to roll her eyes at their minder's behavior, wanting to tell her to put something on, but she bit her tongue, and followed behind. Tails wasn't going as fast as Blaze knew that he could, presumably to avoid throwing Katia off at three or four hundred miles an hour.
"There were a group of elders, once," Spark started, her voice becoming a bit deeper, and her tones becoming more lively. "They were disliked by most of Ikan'Thoa, seen as usurpers to the elder name. The tale states they weren't strong themselves, but rather their parents were strong, and they had won the position off breeding and bribery. Exceptions weren't as rare in those days, as they are now, and a Minder brought forth an Exception. He passed all of the tests that the group of elders gave, with him being a much stronger elementalist than they were. And so on the final test, after rejecting all suitors the elders had prepared for him, gave him the option to choose. Upon all of the elementalists that they knew hated them. They had them line up, one by one, prepared by the Lightning of the time to ensure they wouldn't fight back.
As they knew he would, the Exception denied all of them. He offered to stay in the village, and to mate someday not with someone of their choosing, but of his. This angered them, obviously, but they had already prepared the trap. Guards spilled in, and ordered to kill the Exception and all of the suitors that they had chosen, in a vague sense of treason against the village. The Exception fought back, and with some guards who had known about the subterfuge, took out three fourths of the elder council.
The Exception knew he wouldn't be able to stay in the village any longer, so he chose the next three elementalists of greatest strength from the selection of suitors, and exiled himself from the village. Many of them followed him anyways, off to start a new village."
"Wow. Any news on that one?" Tails asked from his place in the front. "Because that one sounds a lot better than Ikan'Thoa."
Blaze ignored the light smack as Katia slapped Tails' ear gently. "No, because it was torn down two generations later. The elder council then couldn't stand the idea of another village. It was...not a good sight, from what I remember hearing. It was during my grandparents time, when they were kids," Katia explained. She turned ahead and pointed between a few more trees, "Just up there, another five or ten minutes!" Tails nodded, and accelerated a bit. Blaze kept up, mostly without thinking about it.
"How late do the elders stay in the meeting hall?" Blaze asked after a moment. She looked towards the sun, setting down below the tree line, lighting up the sky with orange and reds. It didn't matter how fast they went if the elders left before they got there. A cold wind blew in her face, and she had to stifle a small shiver. Spark had no such compulsions, and dug herself further into Blaze's fur. They weren't gone long, but the temperature had dropped significantly.
"Generally until after sundown. We won't have long," Spark murmured into Blaze's ears. The cat nodded and sped up as she started to recognize the area. Tails must have done the same as he sped up too.
She saw the tall wooden walls that represented the village, and what looked like a small guard sitting on the outside whittling away on his spear. He barely had time to look up before both Tails and Blaze passed him by, heading straight for the earth district. There weren't many others around, and the ones that had only moments before diving to the side as the two speedsters passed them by.
The flap of material shot open as Tails dove under it, just long enough for Blaze to follow at a less hurried pace. She knew that it didn't matter now, whether or not they had made it on time. A few seconds weren't going to hurt anything. The meeting hall wasn't empty, as all four elders were still sitting on their dais, calmly eating what looked like a small bowl of noodles. Blaze smelled Strike's scent around. How had he beaten them there? Unless...unless he hadn't. And the elders knew something they didn't.
Fire looked up first. "Oh. They made it back. All four. That's impressive," she said quietly.
Lightning looked out a small window. "It's late. I'm surprised you all came back. Last time you all went home first. What brought this change?" he asked. As Katia started to speak up, having jumped off Tails' back, the panther waved his hand interrupting them, "Doesn't matter I suppose. Come back in the morning. First light for the Choosing."
"I don't want to get up that early. Quarter sun?" Earth suggested. Lightning started at him, before the panther shrugged. "Quarter sun it is then. Meet back here at quarter sun for the Choosing," Earth said, getting up from his chair.
Blaze stared at them as all four got up. Her eyes met Tails', and he nodded. Spark had been right. They had only one more night to finish what they needed to. Spark gently lowered herself off of Blaze's back, and the cat turned to head towards the witch's hut. They had only a bit of time, and there were more answers needed. And she hadn't forgotten that the Sol Emeralds weren't charging...
—Interlude—
Sonic looked over the desert continent of Shamar, carved mountains from the wind and sand. The dry wind blasted into his short fur, but he didn't move. He could move, and he'd move soon enough.
They had gotten a message out to Tails, or at least, he hoped they'd managed it. They hadn't gotten a response, but Tails may not have been in the best of positions to do so.
"Sonic, that's not what that button does! There's no send!" Knuckles shouted into his ear. Amy was trying to drag off his arm, and Eggman was off in the back, snickering madly to himself.
Marine was off in the corner, practicing her water manipulation. Rouge was watching her, and Shadow was nowhere to be found. They'd managed to find three of the five missing Chaos Emeralds by now, and Sonic had wanted to test Tails' interdimensional transporter by sending a message through.
Eggman had vehemently disagreed, saying that the world that Tails was on was a forbidden world, labeled as 'Kapu' by his own Sol counterpart. Sonic didn't care, while Knuckles and Amy were trying to at least slow down the blue hedgehog long enough to get some of the minor details through his head.
The problem was, Sonic didn't do slow. He never had, and he never would, and he'd sent the message anyway, using a data packet sent through the Special Zone.
Had Tails gotten it? He hoped so. They had five of the seven Chaos Emeralds so far, and with only two left but no leads on them, all that was left was for him to search the normal method.
Knuckles was back on Angel Island, trying to monitor the Master Emerald to see if it could give any hints as to where the other two had gone.
Cream was staying with Marine, watching over Eggman as the Babylon Rogues had decided they had better things to do than to watch over Eggman, and had never shown up. Next time that he saw them, Sonic was going to give them a race they had no chance of winning. He might let them think so, but he was feeling vindictive right now. Although he'd probably change his mind once Tails got back, then he'd give them a normal race...Tails did bring out the best in him, didn't he?
The desert of Shamar rarely changed in any meaningful way, he knew. The dunes would change position, another mountain might be carved where before there weren't any, but the overall layout was almost always the same. He jumped off the cliff, rolling into a ball and letting his speed send up a smokestack behind him. He wasn't just searching for the portals to the Special Zone, but also looking for signs that the Emeralds might still be here, on this plane.
The sand blasted behind him as he boosted, his memory playing guide to him as his eyes looked every which way for any sign of the missing gems. A ring here, a ring there, he had hundreds of the things by now.
A canyon where before there weren't any. He turned and jumped over it, going only halfway before he started to sink. He pulled in his power, whirling it around him and sending him sky high, able to cross the gap with ease. He looked down, hoping to see some sign of anything, instead just seeing a small river as it snaked it way around the desert. That there was water here at all slightly surprised him.
He didn't see any signs of a ring, or a Chaos Emerald, so he finished the crossing before he sped off on the other side. Occasionally he felt the urge to play on the loops as he used to, ages ago, but he refrained mostly. He had to concentrate on finding the emeralds.
Tails was counting on him. Tails and Blaze!
That was an odd thought, truthfully. Sonic wondered if what Knuckles thought did have an iota of truth to it; the echidna had been joking about it for a while. Saying that Tails probably had it best out of all of them, and was probably enjoying every moment of it!
Cream had, of course, knocked the echidna senseless, not that he was fighting back, but it did make Sonic's mind wander. It wasn't as if the kit was big on going out and finding girls. He was more prone to being in his lab, working with technology. If anything, Sonic thought it was more likely he'd make himself a girlfriend, or boyfriend, if he was particularly lonely.
And according to Marine and Cream, Blaze was much the same way. She'd never go out of her way to meet someone. And according to Marine, something that even Cream didn't know, the last time Blaze had had suitors, she'd almost burnt an entire city to the ground.
If anything, that made Sonic worry more for Tails' safety than the thought of him being on his own did. Then again, he trusted Blaze, and he trusted Tails. They'd make things work, even if they weren't romantically inclined with each other. Or even if they were, he should say.
A small spark broke Sonic out of his thoughts. He had raced past it, and slowly turned around to where it was. Out of the corner of his eye, he barely spotted it; the gleeful shine of a Special Zone ring.
Right in the middle of the Shamar temple of the Ancients. He wondered idly if there was a chao garden nearby; he'd spotted a few in the major city nearby, but chao were fairly rare. A garden out in the wild, in the middle of the desert? A sure sign that something...chaotic...was going on. He had checked the temples first thing, the places where he had helped Chip put the world back together using the Chaos Emeralds. There weren't any of the giant rings or star posts then, but there was definitely one now, floating seemingly happily above the pedestal.
A small 'oof' sounded next to him, and he tried not to be surprised by the small blue thing with wings, its head bigger than its body, and with paws with no fingers or discernible hands. A chao. Neutral chao, if he had it right. It was an adult, he could tell, slightly bigger than the usual child, but with no particular leaning of any attribute. "Well hi there little guy. Don't mind me, just needing to save my friend," Sonic explained, kneeling down to pat the chao's head.
It babbled incoherently at him, and Sonic took that to mean it was a token of good luck. He'd need it, he thought, as he took off into the giant teleportal ring. He felt the scenery white out, and felt a sensation of spinning around as the Special Zone formed around him. He'd been through so many of these, that by now he was always looking at it and wondering which of the many ones he'd already been through this one was.
This one was a long tube, as if submerged in water. He knew it wasn't real water; there was almost nothing truly real in the Special Zone. Not even the rings were real, but rather figments of chaotic personification coagulated to unlock the Chaos Emerald's hiding place. Bombs were everywhere, as were rings and balloons. He recognized this one, certainly. But was it from the Metal Overlord version or the Time Eater version? He felt the beat start in his heart, and he began to feel the push of the Zone, rushing him forward. He was used to it, and accepted the speed eagerly.
The balloons came first. This one was a race version, with the Emerald's hiding place moving throughout the tube. And if there was one thing that Sonic was really good at, it was racing. He boosted ahead, collecting the balloons and rings. Each one would help keep up his power as he kept to the inside corners. It wasn't necessary, not for him, but he still did it just to practice with himself. What did Tails call it? Time attack?
The idea of Tails still alone out there in another world, without him, made him steel his heart. He ran faster, his legs going even quicker, as he barely jumped over a ring of bombs. He wanted to spend as much time on the ground as possible, as the Special Zone limited speed in the air. It was one of the only things that made this one fair for the fliers. Another jump over bombs, more balloons, more rings, a spring that would put him in a circle.
The emerald in this one was a fast one. But his name was Sonic the Hedgehog, and he was the fastest thing alive. And no emerald would escape his grasp, not when it was so close, and especially not when it was so necessary. He pushed himself to go faster, and he felt the sound barrier start to push on him. The emerald was just barely out of sight, and all he could see was its glow. He was nearing the end of the tube.
He let out a dark snarl as he pushed through the sound barrier, breaking one of the cardinal rules of the Special Zone. It was near impossible to break mach speed in a Special Zone, but he supposed that near impossible didn't mean truly impossible. He tore through the bombs as if they didn't matter, making them not explode as he rushed past them. Balloons and rings turned invisible for him, and he felt the emerald accelerate.
Not that any amount of speed mattered to him anymore. He gave a quick jump, wrapping his hand around the white emerald, and landed back on the surface of the tube, all momentum ceased. The water angrily dove around him, and Sonic held on to the emerald as it took him out of the Special Zone.
He landed on his feet in the desert, several dozen chao of various colors and sizes staring at him. There were a few hero chao in the mix, a slight white tinge to them, and a few dark chao, their blacks mixing in perfectly with the soft blues of the neutrals. He gave them a smirk as he showed off the emerald, feeling its heat and sharpness in his hands. Number six out of seven. Only one left, and then he could go find Tails.
One of the chao, a soft neutral chao that looked startlingly like Chaos Zero, walked up calmly to him, putting its paw on his leg. "Hey there little guy. Don't worry, I'll send someone out this way to check on you all. But I gotta go, gotta save my friends!" Sonic explained simply.
The chao at his feet shook his head. "What do you mean? Of course I gotta save him." The chao shook his head again. "You can't talk, can you? Of course not, why make this easy?" Sonic said aloud to no one. He gave a glance at the wall, seeing an etching of Light Gaia versus Dark Gaia, and in the middle stood a small etching of him, in Super form, battling the awakened monstrosity. Chip hadn't been fully realized at the time, so he'd had to step in.
There was a dark chao there, in Dark Gaia's place. A hero chao stood in Light Gaia's place, and the two attacked each other, maintaining a stalemate until a dark blue chao, modeled like he was, ran in to help with the dark chao. It looked like a recreation of his battle in the center of the earth. "Are you guys saying I can't do it alone? I know that. It's why I need him too."
The chao turned and nodded their heads, giant grins on their faces. "Yeah, I know I need him too. He doesn't need me, but he doesn't know that yet. He's still only a kid. And with Blaze or not, I need to know he's safe, or at least in a place where he can be safe. That's why I need to find the emeralds. I need to get to him, and get them both out of there. Both him and Blaze," he said to the makeshift audience. He gave a soft smirk and sped out of the temple.
He looked back to see the Chaos chao in the center, shaking its head mournfully.
Obey the cuteness, Sonic! Next up, in case it wasn't obvious...Exile.
Fun Fact! For Exile, I rolled a single twenty sided dice to determine how hurt the characters would be, and throughout the arc I'll post what they rolled when it comes up. Not a fan of this chapter, but I'm also not much of a fan of exasperation as a whole. Also, first actual fight scene in the whole fic. My inexperience shows.
Until Next Time!